#you can see the ref i did back then by in the photo lol

[witherfide]

MORI says:

“Death is Inevitable. Embrace your Fate.”

thanks mori!!!!

uhhh dragon god oc,,,, thing? i think they deserve a rendered piece. I haven’t drawn them at all and i made them 3 months ago!!

guess you could call them a gatekeeper… no avoiding death for you!!! not even mori can!!!

fun fact: their tail is based off of a genus of eurypterid called slimonia!! (specifically slimonia acuminata) they used the ends of their tails to cut and catch their prey!!!

close up

[wachtelspinat]

I have a serious question! What references did you use to learn to draw Roadhog's body type? It's my first time trying to draw a body like his and I'm STRUGGLING. I'm using your art as reference because your depictions of him are godly, but I could use any tips you have. He's my babygirl and I want to be able to do him justice 💓

hey ! good question and thank you very much for your kind words <3

i've been drawing body types like his not enough to say very comfortably that i know what i'm doing, this is mostly due to me not having done a lot of studies in this regards (i wanna change that)... but i've been trying to push it ever since the midnight crew days (since i love drawing our fabulous boy hearts boxcars and he's kinda the same category)...

i kind of looked at various references through out the years, starting with concept art from bioshock 2...

... to pictures of strongmen (they sometimes lack roadie's gut but pictures of them are amazing for arms, the chest area, necks, backs and all that)

(these are dennis kohlruss, eddie hall and rongo keene as examples)

this is older but you get the idea, just to see how things flow when there is more than just skinny muscles and skin.

sometimes it helps just tracing their ingame models, altho i'm more often changing a bit here and there (mostly roadie's giant hands... they’re just not... they just don't go with my stupid idea to go more realistic lol) but i think it's a good way to get a feeling of his body dimensions, especially length of legs, torso etc.

as a general tip i'd say don't be afraid to experiment! you know how to draw a skinny leaf of a guy? try adding more volume to it, try defining muscles through layers of skin. always google ref if you need, you don't know how a double chin rounds exactly? or how some skin folds at the sides move when twisting the torso? google it, or make ref yourself, see what your body does. because in the end we're all consistent of the same parts, it's just a matter of dimensions and volume i think

there are also a LOT of amazing artists out there i draw inspiration from drawing the best, beefiest bears... and yes i mean that in a literal way... they are mostly furry artists on the nsfw side of things, hence i'm not linking them here (i'm sorry)... but in general... idk if you're on twitter or what your preferences are, but a lot of artists specialize in drawing roadhog-type-o-guys and they're so much better at this than i am. and it's not just artists... to be perfectly honest a lot of people upload very good ref on twitter in form of photos of them it's just... mostly... nsfw x') last but not least, i can always recommend the book "morpho fat and skin folds" for certain things

hope this helped a little and if you got any more questions or idk, need help with a certain pose?? feel free to ask

[peppermint-moss]

13, 19, 22, 25, 32! :)

13. talk about a wip you like! wink wonk needletail amv!!!!!!!!! I'm determined to get him done by end of summer before uni starts again AUGH its gonna happen im gonna do it i SWEAR here's some thoughts

I was like 'why is this video taking so long' n then realized most of my amvs are 3 min tops and this one is 5 MINUTES WITH BACKGROUNDS like yea bud its gonna take a while afjskdlhg

I'm trying da vinci resolve again and with a new faster computer it's actually been going alright!! I hate. the gaussian blur it's doing weird things but I don't want to figure out how to use fusion to workaround it and it's not a huge issue so... just gonna leave it be

i hatee backgrounds and they're just kind of. im doing them out of necessity and shortcutting the hell out of them lol dont look at the backgrounds too closely when the video comes out LMAO

video itself is going good!! there's a lotta scenes im v excited to see come into its final stage and im v excited C: !!! sneak peak be upon ye!!

19. where do you find inspiration? I have an 'art ref' tag on my main blog that I usually just kind of scroll through so its mostly a collection of art/photos/colours etc i find on tumblr c:

22. do you have a favorite color palette to work with? I love warmer toned like soft brown-tinted pieces but I've never actually drawn with that i don't think.. Cooler tones I think are trickier for me (I keep ending up with pink in there but I don't think I should be??? idk lol) but i Looove when I can add a pop of like cold piercing cyan to a warm piece hehe

25. what size canvas/paper do you use? I used to draw somewhere in the 3000x2000 px range, BUT my friends were like thats so small!! and they draw on like 5000x5000 px which sounded WILD to me but I gave 5000px a shot and WOW i do like it... i can get more detail in with my lil brush.. yea so I'm transitioning over to using bigger canvases now lol

32. have you done a lot of collabs? No not besides the occasional map part (which I only really stick to doing just my part anyways!) I prefer to work individually waay more which is like a strength and a weakness cause I don't think I'm very receptive to collaborative work lol (i have less patience for it and am less likely to voice my thoughts orz.. I'd like to be better at collaboration but because its smth I avoid my brain's like well no need to improve that then afjdsklgh) BUT im p baller at getting things done on my own

Something i DID do a while back is the art collab meme with some friends which I actually really loved how they all turned out!! C: (Jo is me btw lol) (idk if there's an originator for this meme ? closest i could find was this but lemme know if there's someone else to credit)

ask game questions here

[picusviridis]

helloooo you rbd the "ask me about my ocs" post from me so i am here to ask you abt them (even if you said youre not good at answering them. 😔🤝😔)

i would like to know... anything! about ur ocs :] but i know from experience vauge questions r hard to answer so maybe some trivia? like, howd you choose their names or designs. thatd be cool doesnt have to be the sol ones either !! or i think ur sol ones are also repurposed ones? so their original forms would be cool too. either way i would find it interesting :D

you are so nice to me

AND YOU KNOW ACTUALLY? NAMES & DESIGNS I WAS THINKING TO MYSELF JUST NOW "OH THEY AREN'T THAT INTERESTING" THEN I REMEMBERED NO? THEY BOTH HAVE NAME-AND-DESIGN STORIES? that I find funny anyway........

also i realise how long this is IM PUTTING IT UNDER A READ MORE.

the readmore fucking MOVED?

& ONLY cassius was repurposed . though like before SoL he was . essentially nothing . rotting in my beloveds toyhouse-folder w TWO images (NOW HE'S GOT THE MOST IN MY TH AT... 40...) because I didnt know what to do with him (and it's like... i don't wanna move him out D:) & then i made him in SoL and i think a neuron fired or something idk what happend . the moment I drew him w short hair it all went downhill i think . Anyway, so original cassius, he's named after (coughs) Cassius by Foals . I SAY THIS EVERY OTHER DAY I FEEL "LISTEN TO CASSIUS BY FOALS" (LINKED, THIS TIME.) BUT HE CAME ABOUT COS I SAW A TEMPT6T VIDEO WITH UHH

SOMEONE AS THE GEN 4 GUITARIST. AND FOR DAYS I WAS IN A STATE OF LIKE... ILLNESS? "I NEED TO NAME SOME OC CASSIUS" (....) "I WANNA MAKE THAT GUY AN OC" (....) oh mon dieu now there's a blonde guy in my brain . what the fuck . what the hell? who let him in dude dude dude dude what the hell . tangent but he even was in a band. at first. cos of course he was . a band, fun fact, based on AN OLD POKEMON BAND I HAD . WHICH I HADN'T TOUCHED IN YEARS . BUT cassius was based (i say based loosely) on a shiny minccinno/cincinno named "S I N" so that's fun & the bassist (i.e.) the only other one i . sketched (half-finished?) . i wanna say "oh haha he looks like alfie but with glasses on" but he doesn't . not at all ??? he would have had the same colour hair though. so that's like... the exact same character then

see. him? i wanted to put him here he hasn't seen the light of day in months . ok . where was i . oh yeah this was dropped pretty quickly cos i didnt know what to do with them LOL. now long-haired cassius has been repurposed AGAIN to be cassius' older brother in........the loathingverse! which is cool :-)

& even like i tried so hard to make him fit with the song back when but it NEVER worked and then he gets LOATHING'D AND NOW HE FITS? what the hell man

.

also alfie. alfie oh my god alfie can i say? can i start? do not look at me strangely for this but

this was who he was based on. alfie from fucking blue y . i dont know how i found him nor why i wanted to make a character named alfie because of it but i did AND i needed a name for my achievement hunter (which i portmanteaued, horribly, into his last name) save file(s). So alfie achivunter it was.......... and AND THIS IS WHY HE'S LIKE. THE "DOG GUY". and thats why he looked like THIS at one point :

but i was making his ref & i was like. dear lord this looks atrocious . so im pretty sure i colourpicked from like . ron inside job or something (i distinctly remember being like "this sucks" "what if i made him look like ron instead" & i did) instead and now he looks NORMAL except NOW HE LOOKS LIKE CONNOR SCP CONTAINMENT AND RON INSIDE JOB???? like okay i feel mental every time i say this but like come ON . COME ON?

the Exact Same Man. ok???? i feel like a detective gone mental pointing to a board with red threads and photos like DON'T YOU SEE? IT'S ALL CONNECTED!!! THEY LOOK THE FUCKING SAME!!!!!!! THESE THREE LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh and fun fact alfie is short for alfred he really cannot win . have i said this before? i probably have

& one last thing I guess

these little dots beneath the eyes . it basically means he's got a little evil in him OR really, IMPOSSIBLE TO GET FORESHADOWING. unless you .... know...... the cosmosdex??? yeah. i thought itd fit AND right beneath ALL OF MY OTHER INSANITY. WITH AN ACTUAL LITTLE TRIVIA POINT? HUUUUM. OKAY?

[hyacinths-bridgerton]

YOU. Youre the one that sent me down a (book)arya love rabbit hole all those years ago!!! I just got back on tumblr, so HI and THANKS. Show arya was fine but shes so precious in the books I love her 💖 Anyways, I literally just sent this to westerosiladies but I cant not ask you: thoughts on Amelie Lens/Marine Vacth as Lyanna or older Arya? Marine has a soft, beautiful look with a few wilder photos, but I love how striking Amelie looks. Cant decide between the two for fanart face ref lol

this might be the highest compliment someone ever paid me!!

i'm so incredibly happy to know i influenced you love arya even more and to know our girl in her true book form! i have no idea how i managed to do that, but the fact that i did feels my heart!

and about the faceclaims: i think you might have found one of the best book!arya so far in amelie lens, she resembles a lot of what i think she looks like. if she had lighter eyes, i think she'd be a perfect fit?

while i love most of the faceclaims and fancasts we have, most of them lack something that i deem essential in arya's characterization: the long nose. she has a long nose that makes her face be perceived as different and probably what makes her be called "horseface". something that isn't beautiful in a obvious way when you're a child, especially when other children are talking about you (we all know children can be mean about or phisical features).

anyway, i think you ACED this!! i like marine vacth's features too, but i see a lot of an older arya in amelie lens's aspect. i might use her from now on as reference when writting arya's appearance, so thank you so much!!

[crimsonblackrose]

.

The sekai taikai people have shown up.

I love how they crash the interview for Silver and Amanda's curtsy with her karate adjacent.

Johnny: We will (win) and when we do I'm going to shove that pony-tail straight up your ass (Amanda starts giggling) You can translate that.

Johnny checking on Miguel and telling him he won't force him to compete, blaming that and himself fully for Miguel running away.

Is this what fatherly advice sounds like?

K.O by Robby, whose just teasing Johnny.

SATO'S PHOTO IS ON THE DOJO WALL NEXT TO MR. MIYAGI!!!! Did Chozen bring that from Okinawa?

Johnny proving he remembers the story. Though it's not the story Daniel planned to tell.

They also showcase the abandoned warehouse. With Sam kicking a watermelon

Sam gets watermelon all over Gunther Braun. And Johnny uses a Rock reference to try and smooth it over and Gunther Braun goes all in on it, apparently Rock is his hero. Gunther Braun: Show me more. Johnny: Yes, sir.

While Robby and Sam show off their ability to balance together on the wheel, Eli leans over to the guy next to him from Sekai Taikai and starts wiggling his eyebrows. What are you doing?

What Johnny told Kreese threw him, so when Tory comes for advice Kreese tells her to do what's best for her. (Good advice)

Tory's mad at Kreese for giving up on the plan after she's gone through so much but his advice is good. Look after yourself. He is trying to do right by her.

The students are inhaling pizza faster than Amanda and Carmen can get them on the table.

I'm pretty sure Amanda's apron says LaRusso American Born Italian Made

Johnny sitting in the living room with Eli, Robby and Miguel to figure out which one wants to fight.

Miggy's little yeah I did that face

Awww Robby and Miguel already talked about it and they picked Hawk.

You know what they used to call me? Twig

Kenny's face lol

Silver shows Kenny the silver bullet, a move that rips the dummy and strikes with enough force between the ribs to take someone's breath away.

Mitch distracted by the girls and the smoothie bar. Hint 3 I think that he won't remain loyal.

Eli's hair is green.

Kenny seeing Robby traded sides and is now talking to Anthony pisses him off.

Hate to say it, but he's right.

Silver did you pay off the ref again?

They didn't show it this time, as slowly as they did in the tournament, but Johnny says Hawk made contact in bounds.

Once again Johnny is right, This is directly after the strike, Kenny isn't out of bounds.

The way the ref looks at Tory then Tory looks at Silver and realizes this game is rigged too.

Kenny grabs Hawk's leg and goes for the knee with his elbow the way once was done to Daniel and has been done a lot in this show, I think Hawk even did or tried to do it to Kenny. Kenny gets a warning for that but Eli says he's okay.

Johnny once again being the fastest to get to a student's side. Miggy's soft: Hawk?

Johnny very softly leans down next to him and asks what's wrong.

Hawk struggling to breathe: I...can't....breathe. Johnny looking around shouting to ask where the medic is

the medic showing up the ref calls it a forfeit even though in the all-valley they literally get a half hour.

They help him up and Hawk leans against Johnny.

It's kind of a mirror to after Sam's loss. Though eventually Daniel stops to stare down SIlver and Johnny continues with Hawk alone.

Tory realized Silver was cheating again and peaced out. Good for her.

Daniel warns Sam that they're fighting dirty and in the background Johnny is sitting and talking to Hawk who the medic is still checking on.

Devon steps onto the mat, surprised she's fighting Sam because Tory left, only to meet Johnny's gaze, seeing him rubbing Hawk's back.

One bonus of having so many sensei's is Johnny can care for his injured students and stay with them.

Ref said no point for a shoulder hit. And everyone is confused because it should be because she got her below the shoulder, and she blocked the point Devon got.

If I was Silver I'd be pissed this guy kept looking at me after every bad call.

Sam has to ensure every point is completely undeniable.

I love that Johnny is cheering from the back with Hawk. One of the unnamed background dojo students puts a hand on Hawk's shoulder as comfort when Cobra Kai gets to qualify.

Our Eagle-fang/miyagi-do dojo also qualifies.

Chozen and Johnny hug...but no one hugs Daniel other than Sam, but that was earlier when she beat Devon. (She also hugged Chozen which was very sweet) (Johnny and him fist bump, and even though it looks like they're going to hug Chozen and Daniel just sort of slap each other's backs/shoulders while staying at a distance) Poor Daniel, all he's ever wanted were hugs from Mr. Miyagi and now pretty much the only one giving him hugs are his family. Y'all need to hug him some more.

Like Johnny runs into join the merriment and cheer on his kids while Daniel just stands alone and stares down Silver.

Awww Johnny looking at their students then stepping forward "We are Miyagi-do" and Daniel looking at him, realizing probably how hard that was, stepping next to and in front of Johnny to say "And we are Eagle fang"

Daniel's speech is so good.

Summary of both their journeys.

Okay, Johnny and Daniel do a sort of side hug back pat after that too. I think both pleased with the other.

I like Eli telling Sam, "Maybe some day we'll both win"

Johnny has plans to take her and Rosa to dinner and a late night movie. That's cute. I love that Johnny also hangs out with Rosa and likes her, especially since Carmen's last two guys hated Rosa.

The way Johnny tells Robby and Miguel that as a way to be like you can use our place to host the celebration. The way Miguel totally gets it and just grins.

Miguel trying to clean up his apartment, the courtyard is already trashed. Robby's sitting on the kitchen counter.

Miguel this is too many people. How did this happen. (Poor boy's first party while his parents are out freaking out. Even though he has permission from Johnny) Moon texted a bunch of people from East Valley.

Sam ubered there.

I would like to point out, technically Sam and Miguel are broken up and she's made no notice of anything that they might be back together.

I do love that every time in this show someone tries to escape unnoticed (Usually Johnny) something keeps them from letting that happen. I.e. Sam trying to leave when she catches Miguel and a random girl kissing.

I think Chris puts two and two together when Miguel calls after her and Sam runs off in tears.

Tory coming to tell the truth about the All Valley

[wodimewoahtime]

okay so i don't have everyone done digitally!!! kohanes the only one done her ref sheet but i have photos of them in the sketchbook since i worked on it with an irl bestie, they're a bit messy tho☆彡

kohane- sheep song is from her singing and also hitsuji ga ippiki (her best comm imo)

her design was based off of hitsuji ga ippiki, her realize card, powerpuff girls z, and also precure a little bit!!!! (they all are lol) i wanted to keep each chara in their group concept as well, she has the hair from her lily card!!!

also she has headphones around her neck cause i wanted to give a "musical" item to all the leaders

ps. in general for all the designs i'm trying to keep to a "chara colour, white, black" sorta theme!!!

her graffiti cans are vbs coloured, and you can't really see her wearing it, but on the necklace on the right is her "magical girl item"

she didn't change much from her initial concept here acrually!!!! i think she attacks with a big graffiti can hammer i believe in her

minori is the only other chara i've started the digital drawing on lmao so from now on it's all gonna be sketchbook

i don't really need to explain naming her angels clover, but that's really the concept i tried spreading around her design!!!!

she's inspired by her lily card ofc (they're all either lily/neo inspired actually) but she's also totally based off her dream place card

a small detail you can't see here is that she's actually wearing archery gloves!!! she's the bow user in this au and she flies above the enemy to rain them down!!! (also her earpiece!!! )

also more of her initial planning from the sketchbook, i had a lot of trouble with her skirt....

her magical item is the clover barrette

ichika is meteor pulse!!!! also doesn't really need an explanation, there was an effort to make sure the names were based off their comms after all

i thought she would be difficult to design cause i had no idea for her, but she actually came together like a charm! you can actually see the actual first ichika idea on the second minori page

ichika didn't have a lily card so she has her neo hair!!! there wasn't an exact card i could say ichika is based off of like the other two but i did. make it with her connecting the stars cards in mind

she doesn't have enough fantasy feeling cards is the case lmao

i really wanted it to have a "school uniform" vibe on top of a "band" sort of feeling while also being a magical girl.... she ended up coming out very fun!!!! oh a detail that's hard to see here is that she actually has a barrette with music notes on it!!! and also she has a little earpiece with a mic on it

one thing i'm actually stuck on for ichika is the design for her guitar sword cause i think she has that kind of strings + sword quick attacks ya know?

her magical item is a meteor earring

kanade is night melody!!! ofc nightcord 25 ref

also a chara i didn't have any idea for actually??? i wasn't sure where to go for her concept since i felt like even tho she had a lot of "fantasy" type cards they were also a bit too dark and not directed in concept enough to base smth off it

so i built a whole lot of it off the feeling from her neo card!!! so i based it off of a "cyber magical girl" feeling she also has her neo hair ofc

top left is the first one. she was the hardest to find the direction for. what is that first one.....

i wasn't too worried about giving her a longer thing in the back cause she's totally not moving much during battle (healer/buffer/spell caster/glass cannon)

i ended up taking a power button as a motif, i thought about a musical motif but it somehow felt unfair to the others lmao

her design was based off cyberpunk, neo, and most importantly, cardia from code realize!!! i had a lot of trouble with the skirt shape until i copied the sillouettw off her thank you cardia

her magical item is a bracelet btw, she totally presses the power button on it to "power up"

the details that's hard to see for her is that actually the ribbon curling around from her back to the front is also supposed to be reminiscent of a power button.... also her headphones are one side normal earmuffs and the other side is the huge power button hair thing to the right

tsukasa is showtime pegasus!!! i was the most stuck on him tbh, all i knew was that his hair was gonna be knightkasa

i thought that hes attacking with his flag obvs, and he's star themed but not much else??? i based his outfit mostly off his lily card ofc, but i didn't feel like he was coming together???? i thought he had shorts obvs but idk???

the real brain activation was when i was looking at the lily costume and realized that he was wearing thigh high boots, huzzah!!! i think his design is my fav actually!!!

small details include his earpiece with wings on it, his tie which is supposed to resemble a unicorns horn, the shoes that give off an impression of horse riding, and black detailing on his sleeves that resemble a piano!!!

his magical item is a ring ofc, and he uses his flag as a lance/ buff the party

i also have a little page with how some of them look without their layers!!!

i can't show it here cause tumblr image limit but the back of tsukasas waistcoat has some piano like ribbons that work as a corset

i also actually have all of their power levels, speed levels, abilities, and fighting style but that's more pedantically and also a lot of text that i can't fit in the post rn (it might be fun if you did this with the individual groups!!)

do your best op!!! i hope my designs and thought process help you!!!!!

Expanding on the magical girl au post. Project sekai magical girl au...

This is more for designs than anything but I might come up with a Lil lore

Anyway for now I'm just pinning down the theme for each outfit (if anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them) a lot are going to be blank for a bit

Minori: angels and clovers!

Haruka: something similar to her Ai no Material outfit, penguin themed kinda sorta?

Shizuku: birds! Feathers and shit. It's gonna look different from minorin's I promise

Airi: I have no idea other than a cat. if anyone has ideas for her I'd love to hear ;-;

Ichika: stars! Blue stars! The four pronged ones

Saki: hmmm... um. You know dark Festa shizuku's outfit. That but pastel. Or school girl themed!

Shiho: all I know is that she won't have a dress shell have a suit. Um. Guys help

Honami: baker themed! Probably gonna be the easiest to design lol

Mizuki: RIBBONS EVERYWHERE.

Ena: umm. I know artist theme is the obvious pick here but. Um. Guys help

Mafuyu: either rabbit themed or apple themed. With cute apple earrings oo-

Kanade: Help me. I have no idea

Akito: music.

Toya: music.

An: music.

Kohane: music. Guys help-

Tsukasa stars!! The five pronged ones. I have no other idea help-

Emu: I'm thinking clouds? Something fluffy and cute idk. And star motifs!

Nene: mermaid! Her Glory Steady Go outfit but Magical Girled

Rui: Help.

[karkadette]

The Sims 4 | Ukrainian village house [photo longpost]

A story of this build is more than it seems.

English version of this post, so it can be also educational (sorry for mistakes in advance). [UA ver link / посилання на українську версію]

I finished this house on April 11th, 2022. It was already more than 1 month of russian full-scale invasion on Ukraine. This was one of the first times when I tried to distract a bit from a 24/7 scrolling though terrible scary news. I took my laptop, sit in corridor (note: this is a safe place in a flat if there is full-scale war with bombing, air strikes etc outside) and launched The Sims4. This was the most chill and comfy game that I had back than. No buttles, no difficult quests, just building.

I decided to build old Ukrainian village house, because at that time I was fully into thoughts about my country. I wanted to do something with traditional Ukrainian vibe or simply nostalgic.

I searched for some refs, childhood memories when I was spending summer holidays in the village. But also all of this is from my imagination and game functional.

The whole view to the land area.

Sunflowers in front of the house near the fence is a must! We have a lot of sunflower fields and it always nice to see even single flowers here and there. This is Ukrainian thing.

fun note: on the first months of russian full-scale invasion on Ukraine, brave Ukrainian woman came to the russian soldiers, that wanted to occupied a Ukrainian village, and ask them to put some seeds in their pockets, so they can at least somehow be useful after they pass away on Ukrainian land. This became a well-known meme and also a symbol in Ukraine.

Anyway, back to the house.

A vegetable garden in Ukrainian village household is a must too! I did a little one just for vibes. But usually Ukrainians have a few hectares of gardens. As people of agricultural country it would be strange if we didn't. BTW pumpkins in Sims are super cute, i guess they're not even from debug.

sad note: many of Ukrainian vegetable gardens are destroyed because of russian's bombing. They, in fact, purpously burn and shell fields to left us with no harvest.

Beekeeping is also a thing here. I guess almost every Ukrainian has a nostalgic chilhood memory when local beekeeper inspecting a hive frame and bees don't sting them. Oh, wow!

Hives in the Sims are very cure too!!

Talking about nostalgia. Even though nowadays in vilages we have toilets inside the house I wanted to build an old school one, haha. (one of the reason was me wondering how to buid it in Sims lol).

wtf note: while I was wondering which toilet to build in a game, russian soldiers were stealing flush toilets from Ukrainian houses, to send it to their homes and i guess finally live their dream.

The outdoor summer shower is another old school stuff that I wanted to include. On the left you can see an old bath and a tyre with flowers (just for fun really).

Some other details as a well and outdoor table.

It was so weirdly satisfying to build and to clutter up a shed, lol

Finally interior! Sunflowers on the table, random furniture and bunch of printed stuff on the walls.

Small bedroom with 2 extra beds if someone came to visit. I want you to notice an icon in the courner on the first pic. Small detail that I customised myseft 'cause I couldn't find any to download, ugh.

The basement or cellar. Very useful top tier place in the house. Safe and has a lot of food.

note: nowadays it's not an odd thing for Ukrainians to spend hours in here, waiting for air raid alert to stop. This one better than a corridor

Can you imagine how much time it took me to add all of this single veggies, fruits and other stuff from the debug? I bet you can't. Too long! But is was worth it!

The fun part! Secret exit from the basement, hidden in the bushes, hehe.

You never know when you will need to secretly escape your own house, because of neighbor invaders.

YAY! That's it! Thank you for scrolling down this long post! I wish I never needed to add such notes from my own experience.

And lastly, please,

1) Help and support Ukraine.

2) Don't say "because of Ukraine", say "Because of russia".

[lightofthedeep]

I'm just asking about the tracing thing because I'm not sure you paid her to specifically reference this picture or you were being scammed, if you're okay with this then I won't ask further tho (twitter.c0m/Chopp81483394/status/1568669678175924225?t=ino9agzMcmLL6ageGXaIuw&s=19)

I find it interesting this entire thing has made it to tumblr when this is a twitter situation. It’s okay to DM me about this.

Here’s my thoughts on this openly since I didn’t want to say this on twitter because all my Black Clover friends are on there including Emi.

Emi is my mutual, back then, and still now. I wanted to support her so I commissioned her. It was not to my knowledge that she traced the image until the day that tweet was posted and this upset me greatly. No one ever told me it was traced— she never told me it was traced— there were never refunds given.

In a sense, sure, I got scammed. I trusted Emi with her talent to make things up to her personal interpretation, talent which she DOES have and that’s upsetting. I never asked her to ref that photo. But it’s unfortunate that it’s completely wasted with tracing works from other artists. This is not okay at all and this was never okay.

But unfortunately, I’m not one to be confrontational and since she is apart of the HUGE bc artist circle on twitter and also has a great following, I just decided not to do anything about it but just simply not support her anymore financially.

From my interactions with Emi, she is a nice person, however I can never condone what she did. People are quick to say it’s referencing however, it is very clear that she is tracing. She has admitted to it before but claims she hasn’t done it since, however that thread you provided obtains examples of clear tracing from RECENT works and it’s causing her to profit off of other people’s artworks through her commissions.

I just don’t want to be apart of any sort of fandom drama, I hope you understand, but seeing that you are literally the only person other than one mutual of mine that reached out about this situation, here you go lol.

[pawsitivevibe]

Dog Towel Robe Tutorial

Does your dog love to swim? Does he go dock diving? Maybe you bathe her a lot? We all know staying wet isn't necessarily great for their skin and coat, or your car or living room! Wouldn't you love to have a convenient, travel friendly, hands-free solution for helping dry off your canine pal? How about a towel robe for your dog!

You've probably seen these in pet shops or online, but man they're like $40-80! That seems silly when you can buy a towel for $5.

If you have access to a sewing machine or a needle and thread, you can make one for your dog for less than $20 of supplies.

If anyone happens to try this, please do message or tag me! I’d love to see what you made! If you need any tips or more explanation, feel free to send me a message. 

Step 1: Gather your supplies

You'll need a towel. A cheap towel, an old towel, a more durable towel. Any towel will do. Then you'll want some thread. I used extra strength outdoor thread because I had some, but any thread is find. You'll need some velcro strips. Do NOT get the ones with sticky stuff on the back. You want sew-on velcro. Velcro is also called "hook and loop tape", and generic brand is fine! Just do not get an "adhesive" one - that has sticky stuff on the back. You want "non-adhesive." The sticky backing makes your sewing needle angry.

Here's an example:

https://www.amazon.ca/Non-Adhesive-Strips-Fabric-Fastener-Interlocking/dp/B07QXHKW2H/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=sew+on+hook+and+loop&qid=1620418712&sprefix=sew+on+hook&sr=8-3

You can find hook and loop tape at craft stores, the craft section of Wal-Mart, etc.

Question: I can't find velcro or my dog doesn’t/I don’t like the sound of velcro.

You can try using buttons in place of the velcro OR you can use something like cord or shoelaces to make ties instead. You can put a tie at the neck or sew the neck closed where the velcro would be, and make two thinner waist straps that tie at the top.

Step 2: Measure your towel

Throw that towel over your dog's back to see how long it needs to be. The narrow end of the towel should drape over your dog's head or neck. If you want to be able to pull the robe over your dog's head like a hood, then put the towel like the photo. Otherwise, you can just drape it around the neck. You want to mark along the back, however long the robe needs to be to cover your dog's back.

My dog is just big enough that the towel hangs nicely down her sides without being too long. If you have a smaller dog and the towel hangs too long you can always use a smaller towel OR you will need to cut along one side to cut the excess off. You want the towel to hang a little lower than your dog's belly because you want the towel robe to be able to wrap under your dog a bit.

So, for a smaller dog pull the towel to one side until one side is the ideal length, and then mark or fold the towel so you know where you'll need to cut the excess along the side.

Step 3: Cutting

Cut off the excess at the back and/or the side. We are trying to keep as many of the hems the towel already has so you have to do less sewing, by the way. You can cut it differently, or more rounded at the ends, but you'd have to sew more.

Now, you're going to need the extra piece you cut off the end of the towel to make the belly strap. Cut that baby down to something like this:

You can round the end like I did or leave it square ... It doesn't really matter! If you leave it square, it'll be slightly less sewing.

*Note: if you want to make this robe without velcro, don't make this belly strap. Use scraps from your towel or even another fabric to make two narrower straps that go around your dog's belly and tie above the back.

Step 4: The belly strap

Time for some sewing. Get your sewing machine or needle and thread ready!

You're gonna take your belly strap piece and flip it so the two "good" sides of the towel are pressed against each other. Easy to tell if you're using a patterned towel with an obvious good side. If both sides are the same, it doesn't really matter, just pick one.

Now sew around that baby. The sides and top if you rounded it. Leave the bottom open.

Now you're gonna turn that baby right side out using your open end.

You can leave your end open for now!

Time to attach your velcro. Two strips near the closed end should do nicely. Pin those in place (or don't ... I don't pin things often lol) and sew them on.

Step 5: Hemming

Okay, so here's basically the lazy/easy way of hemming some sides so that the ends of your towel doesn't fray. You should have at least two ends of your towel that are already hemmed or finished. For the one or two ends that aren't, you're going to fold the ends back into themselves. Roll the edge over so that the frayed end is tucked inside. Go ahead and sew the edges like that.

Your hemmed edges should look like this, with the rolled edge underneath and sew inside: 

Step 6: Attaching the belly strap and velcro

*Note: if you're not using velcro, this step will be different.

You're going to grab your dog and drape that towel over them again. Then you're going to take your belly strap piece and figure out exactly where you want it to go so it will attach to one side of your towel, wrap under your dog, and velcro on the other side. Mark and/or pin where your strap needs to attach and where it should meet velcro on the other side.

Now you're going to sew the open end of the belly strap to the good side of your towel where you marked it. You should sew the open end down/closed now too. The velcro on the strap should be facing down. 

Pin your prickly velcro to your towel where you marked. Again, two strips is probably good. 

*Note: if you're not using velcro, you'll have to sew your two straps to either side of the robe so that they can wrap under the dog's belly and tie at the top of the back. Again, sorry I don't have pictures for this version. I will try to get on making one and posting a separate tutorial!

Step 7: Neck velcro

Pin your velcro like this on one end of your robe and sew in place:

Note: If you aren’t using velcro, you can try a button, snap, draw string, or some cord to tie into a bow instead. 

Step 8: Enjoy!!

Throw that robe over your dog. Attach the neck velcro like so:

Slip that belly strap under your dog and velcro it to the other side. 

Boom!

I highly recommend giving your dog a quick toweling with a regular towel before throwing this on. And of course obviously only use this while supervised!

Please send or tag me if you make this, I’d love to see it!

[hychlorions]

How did you start drawing, and do you have any tips or tricks you could share please? Here I have Klavier Gavin with me: achtung ja baby ja ja this is klavier gavin you should help this anon out ja

oh mein gott monsieur klavier gavin i am SUCH a big fan!!!!!!!

jokes aside, i'd be happy to help! (regardless of you having klavier or not lmao) i'm gonna put this under the cut just in case it gets too long

i started drawing... mostly because i hung out with anime kids, so subsequently they were art kids as well, but i really only started taking it seriously when i got a good pen tablet lmao. i wasn't very good though, i mostly followed tutorials from books and online, and if you saw my art back then it would just be a lot of whales, dragons and ponies in the same poses every time

idk if i have any specific tips or tricks ? since idk what you're going for with your own art so i won't be able to give very concrete advice or how-to's n stuff like that ? but if i had to say anything, try looking into doing gesture drawings! they help improve how you understand poses, how to exaggerate them, just overall something quick u can do daily to improve lmao. i mostly just look up poses on pinterest then try to get the flow of them. i just got started on em so inevitably i'm still kinda bad at it but here are a few just to give a quick example

an important thing to note is that u get more fluid poses when you find a line of action first. i used to be really confused when trying to go about finding them, but then my prof defined it as "the longest line of a pose," and even said it's not always the spine (as most people would think). sometimes it's the line from an arm to a leg, or a leg to a leg, even. it helps to draw a circle for the head as well. u could even draw all the lines of the limbs if you want then simplify from there

another tip is to keep reference boards of art u like! dissect how they color, how they portray depth and different angles of the face, etc. just know when to draw the line between picking out things you like about art styles you see and straight up trying to draw exactly like that one artist. i keep a reference board of how artists i like draw klavier, for example, because i want him to have the same jawline maybe, or i like how they color, but i never try to draw him just like they would. tldr the way i draw is just me frankensteining artists i like and combining them with my own art style, and it's not something i'm ashamed of, bc people can still tell it's me, and it's not like i'm copying their ideas or tracing their art lol

related to the last one: download pureref lmao it's literally free and a lifesaver. it makes it so much easier to put collages together and everything is so customizable AND u can even make notes on it. it sits on top of all your applications, and you can move it around, make it as big or as small as you want, and even change the opacity of it??? if you've seen this post, i fr just threw the images together last-minute and took screenshots to add to the ask. if you work on ipad and you're willing to spend a little extra money (because procreate's reference thingy can only hold one image at a time n i don't feel like making a new photo every time i want to add something to my reference board) then vizref is like four dollars and it's almost the same

that's probably all i can offer you ? if you want an arsenal of tips n tricks for art, i always go to @/artist-refs if i'm looking for something specific. the tagging system there is just. amazingly organized, and they even have writing resources too. they haven't been active in a while but it's still a huge archive of resources regardless lol

[kaypeace21]

Lets talk about how these spotify songs confirm byler’s endgame.

Will’s songs

Don’t you forget about me: illustrates Will’s feelings after Mike says they won’t be together for the rest of their lives (but have to get gfs). Love’s “strange” (stranger things). And Will fears change will pull them apart- and as it rains he hopes Mike won’t forget about him/ and questions if Mike will ‘ever love him’. And Mike in the rain (instead of “walking on by?”) calls his name.

“Tell me your troubles and doubts.Giving me everything inside and out and Love’s strange so real in the dark. Think of the tender things that we were working on…Slow change may pull us apart.Don’t you, forget about me.Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t.Don’t you, forget about me.Will you stand above me?Look my way, never love me?Rain keeps falling, rain keeps falling.Down, down, down.Will you recognize me?Call my name or walk on by? rain keeps falling, rain keeps falling. “

“Don’t you try and pretend. It’s my feeling we’ll win in the end.I won’t harm you or touch your defenses-Vanity and security.Don’t you forget about meI’ll be alone, dancing you know it baby .Going to take you apart.I’ll put us back together at heart, baby Don’t you, forget about me.”

( Will physically took them ‘apart’ -from the photo. But in the end it’s also Mike who fears Will will forget about him too. And Will doesn’t harm Mike by picking at his insecurities - like lack of ‘security' in their relationship. But just says the truth that it’s “not possible” to replace him (after he moves). And of course deep down they know they’ll be together in the end. )

upsidedown: Just Will saying he loves Mike and he turns Will ‘insideout” (like the previous song) and “upsidedown”. And he loves him but he’s “crazy’ (cough ‘crazy together’) to think Mike is all his. But no matter what he’ll always love Mike.

“I said, “Upside down, you’re turning me.You’re giving love instinctively.Boy, you turn me inside out .And ‘round and 'round-Upside down…Instinctively, you give to me the love that I need.I cherish the moments with you… no one makes me feel like you do…I know you got charm and appeal.You always play the field.I’m crazy to think you’re all mine.As long as the sun continues to shine.There’s a place in my heart for you, that’s the bottom line.”

here i go again: Will saying he’s “not going to fall in love” ever (like he said in s3) cause he doesn’t want to waste time on Mike. But he keeps backpedalling on the idea and desiring to love Mike for ‘the rest of his days’. Like how Will said he thought they’d never get gfs but play games for the rest of their lives.

“ (verse 3)And here I go again on my own.Goin’ down the only road I’ve ever known…Like a drifter, I was born to walk alone.And I’ve made up my mind.I ain’t wasting no more time . (verse 4)Just another heart in need of rescue- waiting on love’s sweet charity.I’m gonna hold on for the rest of my days'Cause I know what it means to walk along the lonely street of dreams (verse 5) And here I go again on my own .Goin’ down the only road I’ve ever known.Like a drifter, I was born to walk alone.And I’ve made up my mind I ain’t wasting no more time.BUT here I go again.Here I go again.Here I go again.Ooh baby, ooh yeah.”

Take my breath away: This excerpt speaks for itself that byler is real/endgame after Will moves/s4 and 5. XD

Mike’s songs

Will’s canon Spotify playlist. He ALSO has the song “I’m still standing” by Elton John (who is gay)? Aka cause Mike has a ‘romantic comeback’ with Will XD

I’m still standing’ is a guy bragging about a breakup and now feeling like a kid -lol Mike saying he feels like a 7 y old after the breakup . And moving on -lol it’s mileven).   The album is from “to be continued...” I MEAN, C’mon. That’s , very on the nose for s4 byler happening after mileven XD

‘Your blood, like winter, freezes just like ice” (when El broke up with Mike , “cold as ice” played).”I got a taste of love in a simple way.And if you need to know why I’m still standing.You just fade away.Don’t you know I’m still standing better than I ever did?Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid.And I’m still standing after all this time.Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind.”

‘Baby I lied’, also reminds me of the byler fight where Mike insults Will/talks about El and then says to Will “ But, we’re not kids anymore. I mean, what did you think, REALLY?  That we’d never get girlfriends? Sit in my basement and play games for the rest of our lives?” Causing Will to storm off crying- thinking Mike doesn’t even imagine Will being there for the rest of his life (in favor of a girlfriend).And then Mike (although already knowing of his feelings for Will) realizing that it wasn’t a temporary crush/phase- but that he was in love with Will. And only realizing he can’t live without him when Will left. Making it sink it to Mike that he was lying to Will during their fight.

“Did I say that I’d be okay if you said good-bye? And did I promise you I could take it if we were through? And forget about these feelings inside? Baby I lied when I told you I could walk away .Baby I lied…And did I ever tell myself I could always find someone else? Did I say if you left today it’d be no surprise? Did I ever leave any doubt I could hold up if you walked out? I know I told you that I could survive. Baby I lied…And now that I can see you walking out of my life . Saying good-bye, I realize….”

also ‘Love is a battlefield’ (could be recontextualized/interpreted through a que*r lens  given the time period-typical hom*phobia) . Love would be considered a ‘battlefield’. ( The song could be. about 2 people refusing to state their feelings/ holding back from doing anything romantic. Despite both people in the song secretly knowing the other secretly reciprocates mutual romantic feelings)  . But they fear pursuing anything cause society says their love would be ‘wrong’. It also reminds me of s3 byler fight . Both ‘standing’ secretly in ‘heartache’. One character in the song(Mike) being mean to the singer who’s angry and wants to go home (Will). Then after that (Mike/song character) begs the singer (Will) to stay but then is mean to the singer again . So in response (Will/singer) gets annoyed and then asks ‘am I in your way? or am I the ‘best thing’ you have?(s2 byler ref). And the singer could internally question if they made a move on the Mike (/song character) would they be rejected? And like that singer ,Will, also throws Mike’s words in his face by saying he actually did think they’d be together for the rest of their lives without girlfriends (cause he may suspects Mike is full of shit?). The singer pretty much says-when it becomes impossible to ignore your romantic feelings for me - you’ll realize you’ll need me ! The song also emphasizes they’re “young” (kids) and Will/the singer  questions if their love will get  “old” , but quickly decides their love can’t get ‘old’ or die (despite Mike’s lies stating the contrary) * Also saying “no promises” could be a ref to show it’s the opposite of mileven who have the promise line.*Seems like the song is from Will’s pov. 

“We are young.(Heartache to heartache) We stand. No promises(No demands)…We are strong. No one can tell us we’re wrong. Searching our hearts for so long. Both of us knowing, love is a battlefield. You’re begging me to go. Then making me stay. Why do you hurt me so bad? It would help me to know : Do I stand in your way?Or am I the ‘best thing’ you have?When I’m losing control.Will you turn me away? And when all this gets old,will it still feel the same?There’s no way this will die. But if we get much closer.I could lose control.And if your heart surrenders-you’ll need me to hold.”

‘Kiss off’ could also be seen through a queer lens aka Mike trying to deny he’s gay but realizing at the end of s3 it’s not a phase. And hopefully learning to accept it in s4.

“I need someone, a person to talk to. Someone who’d care to love. Could it be you?could it be you?Situation gets rough. Then I start to panic. It’s not enough!it’s just a habit! Hey, kid your sick. Well, darling this is it! You can all just kiss off into the air!Behind my back I can see them stare.They’ll hurt me bad . But I won’t mind. They’ll hurt me bad, they do it all the time.” 

El’s songs

 The power of Love is the 1st song that shows El desire to learn about love despite it scaring her and not really understanding her relationship with Mike. (it’s a very heteronormative idea- “I’m your man /i’m your women” so we’ll fall in love). It also shows her more questionable behavior like spying on Mike. (The later songs illustrate mileven falling apart.)

“Even though there may be times it seems I'm far away. Never wonder where I am'.Cause I am always by your side.'Cause I am your lady.And you are my man...We're heading for something.Somewhere I've never been.Sometimes I am frightened.But I'm ready to learn of the Power Of Love.”

  (The second song)Another one bites the dust is about a dysfunctional romantic relationship.

Girls just want to have fun illustrates El’s annoyance with both Hopper controlling her, and Mike (like Hopper trying to control her) and keep her away from the outside world. And just preferring hanging out with Max and not having a romantic relationship.

“ (verse 2)My father yells, "What you gonna do with your life?".Oh daddy dear, you know you're still number one.But girls, they wanna have fun... (verse 4) Some boys take a beautiful girl and hide her away from the rest of the world.I want to be the one to walks in the sun.Oh girls, they wanna have fun.Oh girls just wanna have.That's all they really want. Some fun.”

Don’t tell me lies - (El in s4) saying they’re whole relationship is a lie and she was ‘naive’ to think otherwise.But now she knows her Mike will be with someone else and their relationship was always based on a lie. And she’s ok on her own. “Every move you made before was never meant for real.Over my naivety is this how I should feel?...they'll never ever be another one.Don't tell me lies.Don't tell me lies.Looking back I realize it's always been this way.We must note what has gone and never turn away...Broken loose from indecision.Now I'm alright on my own...I guess I'm alright on my own.”

 I feel like i’ve talked the lying aspect to death but it’s an important element to their relationship.

Mike while apologizing to El at the grocery store never apologizes for lying -despite it being the cause of the breakup . He never apologized for lying cause the love is the lie- like Max said “boyfriends lie ALL THE TIME”. And it’s why the camera panned to Will when Lucas asked why Mike lied to her. And he never answers El’s question of ‘why do you lie?!’ (he just looks up silent and guilt ridden).  In s2, Mike says “i never gave up on you (to El). “ When moments earlier he says to Max “it took her just like it took Bob.” HE’S LYING AGAIN . He thought she was d*ad.Plus he also fought with Hopper in s2 (’about El’) in Will’s room too. He wasn’t actually calling Hopper the liar he was calling himself “a stupid disgusting liar”out of self hate . That scene was foreshadowing his lying to El in s3 (about his feelings for her). He blamed Hopper for his feelings for Will cause he told himself it wouldn’t have escalated if El had been around to ‘fix him’ . “I BLAME YOU! NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS OK! NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS OK. YOU STUPID DISGUSTING liar, liar, liar, liar”.starts crying.

In s3, mike (in Will’s room) did not reciprocate El’s kiss/ or say ‘i love you ‘ back  and had his eyes open while the same exact song plays that robin came out to: called ‘the first i love you’. These are the only times the song plays in s3. The ‘first i love you’ also sounds like ‘the first lie’ - that song played when jancy said they were just friends. it sounds the same cause jancy lied about it not being romantic while mileven lied by saying it was.  

Ugh- why are the tags not working? I guess , please, reblog if the tags continue to act up or else no one will see this.XD

[dripkingpetey]

give me a chance-j.virtanen

a/n:this took me way longer than it should’ve but I've just had no motivation for writing lol (watch me not post another fic for the longest time-)

1910 words

“Y/n, I bet you’re the only girl that’s ever turned Jake down.” Brock said to you over the loud sounds of people talking in the background of the bar and he wasn’t wrong, any girl who Jake has every approached or even talked to would be falling in love with him right away but not you. You always used the excuses like “I’ve known him for too long, it would be weird.” Or “I just don’t want anything with anyone right now,” But all of that just made Jake want you more.

“He’s not wrong.” The young swede sitting to the left of you chimed in. “I’ve never seen anyone turn Jake down, you must have some anti Jake gene in you or something.” The three of you bursted laughing at Elias’ words before you took a sip of your drink. “I don’t know, I want something serious and I know Jake can’t give me that.” You said quietly but Brock and Elias definitely heard you as they exchanged a look to each other.

Jake came back to the area that all of you were seated and nuzzled his face into your shoulder, clearly very drunk. “Hey,” He grinned while slowly closing his eyes as he couldn’t help but drift off to sleep.

“Are you sure you guys don’t have something going on? Secretly fucking or friends with benefits?” Brock joked quietly, looking at you rubbing Jakes back and comforting him. “Seems like you and petey are the ones that are secretly fucking.” You commented at Brocks words and his face immediately turned red. 

By the next morning you had completely forgotten what you had said last night, the only thing occupying your head was the pounding headache from your hangover. “Hey,” Jake grinned while taking a sip of water in his kitchen and that was when you realized you had fallen asleep on his couch last night. “You’re creepy, were you watching me sleep?” You joked and threw a pillow at him. “For your information, I was not. I actually need to get ready for practice.”

“Do you mind taking care of Bruce and Donny today? I forgot they had to go to the groomers.” Jake asked nicely knowing you would say yes. “Yes, but only if you hangout with me tonight.” You smiled at him as he nodded. “Count me in, okay I really gotta go get ready.” Jake pulled you in for a hug and a light kiss on the head before he rushed to get ready, you waited till Jake left to get ready for the day. You had clothes there from spending time over there so much so you grabbed a pair of leggings and your favourite hoodie of Jakes before you hopped in the shower.

You ran some errands before you had to pick the dogs up from the groomer, you sat them in the backseat before taking a photo of you and the dogs to show Jake you had picked them up.

i got the boys :) 

*image attachment*

Is that my sweater?

maybeee

I’ll be home soon, should I pick up dinner?

nope, i already planned what we’re doing for dinner

You started putting away the groceries and grabbed the ingredients you needed for dinner, you decided to make burgers and salad for dinner since you knew it was Jakes favourite meal and he was dying to try out the new grill he purchased the other day. 

“Hey.” Jake whispered right by your ear which made you jump while preparing the salad. “I already knew you were here,” “Yeah but you still got scared.” Jake chuckled at you and sat on the stool for the kitchen island. “What’s for dinner?” Jake raised an eyebrow at you before you pulled out the hamburger patties. “Burgers, you get to use the grill that you’ve been dying to use.” You smiled as Jakes eyes immediately lit up. “Oh god, you are a literal man-child.” You sighed with a chuckle.

-

Since Jake was gone on a road trip, you went over to his house to take care of his dogs and the house, it was the second game of their road trip when Jake got his injury.

You couldn’t help but sigh as you saw Jake get hit, he was against Dallas when Jamie Oleksiak collided with Jake. But the sigh quickly turned into fear when Jake was struggling to get up. “Oh shit.” You mumbled to yourself as the refs whistled and the trainer went on to help him. Jake slipped a little but got off the ice quickly with the help of Bo and Brock.

You watched the replays of the hit that they were showing on tv before you texted Jake.

i watched the game, call me when you can please.

You were half asleep when Jake called you, you quickly woke up from the call and answered.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Your voice was sleepy and Jake could tell. “Hey, I’m okay. Sorry did I wake you up?” Hearing Jakes voice made you calm down. “No, no its okay.” You mumbled, half asleep which made Jake chuckle. “I’ll be home tomorrow.” Jake quickly realized you weren’t listening when he heard your light little snores. “I love you” He whispered before hanging up to fall asleep as well.

You woke up early next morning and cleaned up around the house and  waited for him to come home. “Oh god I look like a mess.” You mumbled as you saw a glimpse of yourself in the window.  You quickly tried to fix your hair and outfit but quickly gave up and changed into a set of Jakes clothes along with a messy bun.

“Hey.” Jake said cheekily as he flopped himself on top on you, wincing a little from his injury. “Hey,” You mumbled quietly, now realizing you were asleep. “You’re home.” You grinned. “Would be better if it was our home though,” Jake winked as he whispered into your ear. “Jake,” You sighed as he kissed your cheek. “Y/n, just kiddinggg.” Jake said as he dragged on the ‘g’ and sat up on the couch.

“How was your trip? Well other than the injury.” You asked but quickly realized it wasn’t a good question to ask him. “The trip was pretty fun, but did you know the doctor actually said that cuddling will help out my concussion and my injuries?” Jake smirked as you looked up at him. “Oh really?” You teased, moving your body onto Jakes and burying your face in his chest while you traced the tattoos on his arm with your fingers. “Yeah, just like that.” Jake chuckled and rested his face into the top of your head.

-

Jake didn’t want anything super special for his birthday this year, just a little party at his place with close friends, which was surprising since Jake was a party guy.

“Morning, birthday boy.” You grinned over FaceTime to a half asleep Jake. “Hey.” Jake mumbled, pulling his blanket up to his head. “What do you want?”

“Woah, woah. I’m just trying to be nice and wish you a happy birthday,” You defended yourself as Jake laughed. “I’m just kidding, thank you y/n.”

You ended the call shortly after to go get ready for the day since Jake kept on whining about wanting to go back to sleep. 

You snuck into Jakes house with your spare key, setting down the breakfast you had picked up from his favourite cafe. You tippy toed quietly up the stairs to Jakes room, trying not to wake him up yet. Sneaking into Jakes bed and cuddling up behind him. “Hey.” You mumbled against Jakes neck before giving him a kiss there. “Y/n?” Jake mumbled, chuckling a little. “How did you get in?” 

“I have your key dummy.” You laughed, starting to play with Jakes hair and you knew he loved it. “I brought you your favourite breakfast.” You smiled as you saw the smile grow on Jakes face as well. “You did?” “Yep its in the kitchen,” Jake jumped up out go bed and headed downstairs as you sighed and laid in his bed for awhile.

Before you knew it, you had dozed off to sleep. Groaning as you woke up to the loud music playing downstairs combined with the sound of people talking. Making sure you looked presentable and awake before going downstairs.

“Hey, you’re up!” Jake exclaimed as you walked downstairs and greeted everyone, realizing that Jake was already very drunk. “The drinks are in the kitchen if you want one.” Jake grinned with his visible rosy cheeks. “Thank you.” You smiled at Jake and made your way to the kitchen, grabbing a red bull and taking a big sip so you can pour way too much vodka in the can than needed. 

Completely tipsy and almost drunk, you found yourself sitting on top of Jakes lap with your face inches away from his. Jake softly but his hand on your cheek and you leaned in as well, realizing what you were doing and pulled away.

“Why won’t you give me a chance?” Jake whined at you pulling your face away from his. “Jake.” You mumbled quietly. “No, don’t give me that ‘Jake’ bullshit. Give me a reason.” “Its not that I don’t feel the same way about you, I do, but I don’t know what you want out of this and I want something serious, not one of your casual Friday night hookups, I want an actual relationship but I don’t think you want that.” You finally let it all out, the things you’ve been whining about to Brock and Elias, he finally knew. 

It took Jake a moment to process what you said especially under the influence, but he tried to sober up before he could say anything else. “Just give me a chance y/n, I promise I can be the serious relationship you want.” You sighed at his words, knowing you needed another sip of alcohol before you could do anything else. “Tell me that in the morning Jake, when you’re sober.” You stood up and left the living room so you didn’t have to see the disappointed look on Jakes face, finding yourself in his bedroom and changing into Jakes clothes so you could drift off to sleep. 

You woke up to Jake wanting to talk about last night immediately but you somehow successfully persuaded him to let you wake up and have a cup of coffee.“I know I haven’t had the best reputation with long-term relationships but I wanna try, with you. So just please, can we work this out?” Jake said quietly, he’s never had to do stuff like this before and you could tell he was taking it seriously. “You know how this is gonna end if it doesn’t go well right? I need you and I can’t lose you.” You said quietly, afraid to make any eye contact with him because you were tearing up at the thought of losing him.

“Then I won’t let it go bad.” Jake sat closer to you and tucked the loose strands of your hair behind your ear and he noticed the tears. 

“You promise?” You mumbled, looking up at him. “I promise y/n.” Jake said while smiling lightly at you before you pressed your lips onto his and you could’ve sworn the kiss was out of a movie, it was perfect.

[causticsunshine]

twenty questions

tagged by @are-you-quite-finished-giovanna thank you babe!! 🥰

1. why did you choose your url?

simply put i adore louis and i like purple and it just rolled off the tongue lol, but i also had a list of possible urls i also liked and i had to snatch this one up while i could!

2. any side blogs?

yes i have four....i'm not one of those 'everything goes on main and you can deal with it' type people.... but i have an inspiration blog @prickelndauge (art insp, lots of fashion, cool photography), an art-only blog @swmpwxtch, one just for spooky/creepy content because i'm really into horror manga and scary movies and that kind of stuff but i keep it off of main because i know a lot of it can often be triggering to others! (i also don't post much there but @bonepickng) and one for art references, life tips, random resources, and more donation sharing @am-ref!

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

soooo long i thought i'd be gone by now tbh. i know i signed up in 2011 after just browsing the site through random blogs and tags for ages, but i didn't start actively using my own account until early 2012!

4. do you have a queue tag?

when i actually remember to tag things i have queued i'll use 'i'm sleep queue' because all my early morning posts everyday are queued....i am an insomniac rip

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

keeping up with my interests better! i was like 15/16 at the time so it made sense. back in Ye Olde Days much like now—i really have come full circle lmao—it was mostly just for 1d and then some random tv shows/franchises i just to see content of semi-often, as well as finding cool art!

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp?

rn it's just a regular pic of louis! as much as i like using my collages or little edits as my icons, you can't see much of anything and it looks too busy sometimes (but also the photo i have rn....i am always thinking thoughts about it soooo)

7. why did you choose your header?

it's pretty! i wanted everything to follow a color scheme + i love embroidery and fancy gowns!

8. what's your post with the most notes?

ok i thought it was gonna be one of my old larry chibi doodles because i know a few of them hit 1k+ notes, but i deleted those in 2017 and apparently now it's this 6 year old like....funky photo study i did of dan howell from 2015 when i still watched him and amazingphil a lot?? i mean at least it's something i was once proud of lmao....there's a few art posts i have with semi decent notes that i pretend i Do Not See

9. how many mutuals do you have?

i think rn 40 something so not very many, although i unfollowed a lot of people i was moots with when i left my last fanbase so that's probably why 😬 i've been meaning to check out more HL/ot5 people though!! i love mutual interaction but i'm afraid of being annoying if i'm any degree of attentive

10. how many followers do you have?

overall i have almost 2.4k rn, but there's a decent amount that are totally inactive or at least don't interact with me so it feels like....a lot less lmao but since re-joining 1d i've already made up like all the people i lost when i left my other fanbase of almost three and more so thank you for actually liking my work and maybe me as well 🥺💗

11. how many ppl do you follow?

around 370 rn!

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

half of the stuff that comes out of my mouth is a shitpost fdngjkdf like my tags are bad enough lmao, no one needs to properly share the bs i have to say

13. how often do you use tumblr?

pretty regularly rn but there are times i'll go completely MIA depending on what i'm into/how busy i am!

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog?

in the past i have had some....issues with other people i've met on here but never directly had confrontation with them? most of the time that's happened i figure it's been one-sided though because i can get irritated with certain behavior really quickly—like i always say my heart is big and open but my bullshit tolerance is dangerously low—but when that's the case i'll just unfollow or block without saying anything?

although back in the day there was one instance (and seriously if anyone remembers this you deserve a medal because this shit was Ridiculous) where i kinda but not really called out another 1d fanartist who posted untagged noncon fanart they'd done of at least two of the boys, and then acted like it was no big deal (like. 1. those are irl people my dude and 2. untagged noncon art?? in front of my salad??) and their friends kept defending them for it and tried to come for me claiming i was a proponent of Purity Culture when i'm not and literally all i said in my post on it was that in my own opinion it was kinda fucked up to draw noncon art of real life people—not characters played by actors! but actual real people as themselves—in the first place, but if you felt the need to post highly triggering content like that the least you could do was tag it accordingly

but i think that was the last time properly so i guess times within this fanbase are still chaotic as ever just in a different way?

15. how do you feel about "you need to rb this" posts?

Annoyed™️ like don't guilt trip me over a post lmao i do what i want !!

16. do you like tag games?

YES i love to talk about myself after years of trying not to show any personality online out of fear of judgement dfjkngdf

17. do you like ask games?

yes! i want to do them more but i'm always afraid of reblogging one and then getting nothing and looking like a Fool :'(

18. which one of your mutuals is tumblr famous?

i guess i have a few moots that are kinda well-known or at least get good interaction within the community we're a part of? also isn't that phrase kind of an oxymoron at this point adfjkdf

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

not past platonic friendly affection lmao but honestly what is it like to have a realistic crush on an actual tangible person versus someone in the public eye who doesn't even know i exist.....it's been so long and i am so lonely please send help

20. tags?

@niallnailme @bolitodequeso @milkcurls @exzouis @ialwaysknewyouwerepunk @got-my-devotion @aliensyndrome uhhh anyone who'd like to please consider yourself tagged by me! literally if there was an 'all my moots' button i'd just pick that lmao and as always no pressure/sorry if you've already done this and i haven't seen!

[class-wom]

Legion Chapter 24 “Morning After”-Thoughts – SPOILERS!!!

   *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

 SPOILER TERRITORY

  *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Okay, as I mentioned in a previous tag from a previous reblog, where Shakespearean tragedy analogies/comparisons are concerned, this is looking less and less like Romeo and Juliet (doomed star-crossed lovers, but hey, at least their folks kissed and made up at their funerals, so to speak!) or Hamlet (huge “pile o’ bods,” including the struggling title character, but hey, at least he finally avenged Daddy’s death and left Horatio behind to tell the tale!) and more like MacBeth.  And frankly, that’s really hard for me to take, because I hate MacBeth!!!  (That being said, yeah, Lenny is now officially a classic Lady MacBeth figure.  Out damned spot indeed!)  And it seems rather ironic to me now that the body count we thought was “a thing” by the end of the Pilot -- dead Lenny, dead Clark -- really is a thing now.  (...or is it?!?  Duh-duh-DUHHHHHHHH!!!)

On the bright side (yes, I’m determined to find one -- LOL!), good and/or bad, there was a lot that happened in this ep that imo needed to happen if we’re going to reach a halfway-decent conclusion for better or worse.  And let’s not make the decision there just yet, though we’re kind of left in a position to anticipate the latter imo.

Clark’s fate? love him or hate him, yeah, he had to go imo, because to me he was a vengeful fly in the ointment who only back-burnered his David-grudge from Chapters 9 to 19 due to lack of sufficient evidence of David being a threat (a terribly useful tool in Farouk’s “bag o’ tricks;” please let us remember how casually Farouk literally flicked him off in the closing scenes of Chapter 18!), and consequently only succeeded in his relentless pursuit and obsession in making a bad situation ten times worse and more complicated in the long run.  I’ve mentioned before that Daniel’s lines in Chapter 20 made the consequences of Clark’s one-track mind perfectly clear, which brings me to Daniel’s fate:  Yeah, this is definitely one to file under “Okay, if you want me to badmouth David, I’ll go with this one; what he did to Daniel was (borrowing from Clueless) way harsh and completely unnecessary and cruel.”  Funny that it happened before he took down Clark, who again did have to be removed if any headway is to be made in any direction imo.  But maybe that’s part of the point being made here:  Okay, fine, go ahead and hate David for savagely taking down Daniel’s mental capacity as collateral damage, if you like.  But in the end, what put him in the line of fire in the first place?  His love for and loyalty to the obsessed (”focused”) Clark.  So could it be possible that, consciously or otherwise, Clark was so focused on taking down David by whatever means necessary that he was willing to put his partner at risk in the process? and doesn’t that make him as bad as David, allowing his obsessions to distract him from and ruin what he holds dear?  Not an excuse, mind, but just a thought.  It’s just that there are so many more of David at this point that it’s easier to spot in his case! LOL!

Which leads me to the next batch of things that happened that needed to imo:  The long-overdue Sydvid talk and Syd’s discovery of David’s alters.  Now regarding the former, this brings me to a tiresome sore point in light of the Chapter 23 gulag scene, namely the “one step forward/two steps back”-type of scenario where David has a much-needed confrontation that reveals his deep-seated pains and struggles beneath his dark persona, but GOTCHA! -- the whole thing turned out to be a trick, and David’s back to his guarded ruthless self as a result.  Still, hopelessly optimistic viewer that I am, I’d like to think some much-needed seeds were planted during the talk:  Even if Syd was deliberately attempting to lull David into letting his guard down (via SK’s Chapter 21 cringe-worthy promise to “teach you to lie so well that he’ll thank you as you stab him in the back”) by saying everything he wanted (and imo needed) to hear.  (Yeah, since David made a point of mentioning how he used to trust her, we’ll see how well he trusts her in future after that stunt!!! 🙄)  I’d like to think that, whatever state she may be in at this point (there’s the possibility that she may not take a literal physical form, but hey, after the whole Lenny S1-S2 Saga, who knows with this show?), she’ll know a lot better than to trust Farouk from now on.  (David was right about that when he said she shouldn’t have trusted him!!!)  I like the fact that she at least admitted that she had been jealous!!!  So at least she came out and stated the obvious; I was pleased about that!

And now that it’s happened, I can go ahead and say it:  Yes, the Sydvid Body Swap, Syd-trick or otherwise, needed to happen, because Syd needed to see what was/is driving David and making him behave the way he has been all this time.  I was shocked as to how quickly it transpired:  I wasn’t expecting it for a few more eps, tbh, and yeah, I was kind of hoping it would end a little more optimistically, with Syd and the Davids eventually talking things over, but depending on wherever Syd is mentally now (in David’s mind? somewhere in the stratosphere? I know that the next ep, which I may miss altogether but follow up on via summaries in the name of continuity, will follow her on the astral plane, so idk, maybe she’s just in a deep coma right now physically), maybe it could still happen with three eps to go? 

Also, on a side note, I liked watching DS’s “Syd-as-David” drag RK’s weakly protesting “David-as-Syd” down the halls muttering, “It’s okay, David! I gotcha!”  Took me awhile to figure out wtf Syd was up to and what she was really trying to pull during the discussion, complete with her tipping her hand about Switch’s whereabouts; I concur with a tweet I read dismissing it as a stupid plan on the part of Syd, quite frankly, thereby minimizing sympathy somewhat imo for her current position.  But I still enjoyed watching that post-swap part for some reason; acting-wise, that had to be a challenge for both DS and RK, so props there!  (And okay, yeah, Syd using David’s powers to blast his knife-wielding followers?  On the one hand, I feel sorry for them, but on the other, I concede with reluctance that it was kind of cool, if for no other reason that I no longer have to listen to them call him “Daddy”!  ROTFL!  Not sure what annoys me more, their calling him “Daddy” or Farouk calling him “My son” or “My baby.”  Let’s put it at a photo finish, shall we?  LOL!)

Okay, on to the Lenny Shocker -- and to me, it was a shocker!  Yet there was a huge dropped ball in this scene that annoyed me:  As Lenny was calling David out on his narcissism, why the heck didn’t he point out that the only reason he was keeping her around and/or she had a body in the first place -- a body destroyed by Syd, accidentally or otherwise, using David’s body and powers, I might add!!! -- was because Farouk destroyed the only tangible family, adopted or otherwise, in order to grant her request for a physical body and freedom?  He would have certainly had grounds to do so, Heaven only knows!  Okay, fine -- not saying that Hawley & Co. had to call up Katie Asleton to get her to film new scenes; a few flashbacks and/or at least the name-drop of Amy would have been good enough for me.  But I’ll give NH credit:  There may have been a case in which he did write such a line in this scene for David, and heck, maybe it was even filmed, only to be cut at the request of the FX execs who argued that it would cause the ep to run too long to ironically run that Twizzlers ad during the commercial breaks.  (Anyone else catch that in the “Lenny Swan Song”-ep with regard to a sponsor choice? that couldn’t have been a coincidence! LOL!)  Perhaps the best part of the scene (at least imo), David shedding visible and genuine tears as Lenny slowly bleeds to death, was supposed to indicate this, that the closest thing he had nearby to remind him of a true family was slipping away from him.  Interesting ref during the Sydvid talk that he later describes this as “abandonment” and equates it with his parents.  I guess that’ll work for now, but I would have liked to at least hear the Amy-ref, since it’s safe to call that moment the turning point in S2, David’s realization of Lenny’s true identity.  JMO.

And while the World Wide Web is crying “There’s no doubt about it, David truly is a villain now!” can we just take a look at Farouk in this ep once and for all and say “Yeah, okay, whatever, but that doesn’t mean that Farouk is good by default!”?  (I know, I know -- two wrongs don’t make a right, as I keep saying, but again, Farouk’s old enough to have a better idea of what he’s doing, and apparently for all his coolness, even he in the end underestimates his competition!) Puppet master, master Chess player (oooh, a Xavier/Magneto ref! LOL!), etc., etc. -- we definitely see Farouk as nothing more than a master manipulator.  Yet he’s not completely successful in his control over D3, and since the D3/Summerland gang has changed so dramatically and frustratingly over the course of this show to the point where I’m not even sure I can root for the Loudermilks anymore (Kerry’s excitement about going to space was kind of fun, though!), I’m not sure whether to be pleased or disappointed in this turn of events and the inevitable parting of the ways.  (Or at least I would hope so; perhaps he’ll use Syd’s apparent condition to his advantage, idk.)  Frankly, I’m coming more and more to the conclusion that there is going to be no true winner at curtain’s end no matter how you slice it; at best, perhaps some parties will come away with a bittersweet sense of closure, and that’ll be about it.

Regarding Farouk’s underestimation of his control over the situation, I liked Switch’s suddenly popping up to help David, but if she’s incarcerated in a hibernation chamber, how the heck did she manage to snap out of it so quickly?  That had a rather deus ex machina-feel to it imo.  I may have missed something, idk; quite possible with this type of a show.  LOL!

And as often happens, I guess I had a little more to say the morning after than I thought I did! 😂

[taylorsmiththeauthor]

An Empath, A Psychic, & A Human; first chapter

I’ve decided to take some advice from the tumblr writing community and build my empire, so to speak. So here is my first post about writing, despite the fact that I’ve been on this website for over a year lol. Feel free to check out my wattpad, @Real_Taylor_Smith. I’ve also just put up instagram where I’ll be posting news, extra content, and excerpts as well as here! It’s @real.tay.smith and soon I’ll have a website up. A little heads up, this story has a fair amount of foul language, so be warned. Until then, happy reading!

HUMAN

The air in the truck was tense.

No one had really been sure of what we were supposed to fight. The best that had been offered to us were a few blurry pictures of a massive scaly beast with wings, and audio of a terrible scream that seemed to come from the beast. The world quickly claimed that a dragon had somehow come to be – and we were supposed to fight it.

I glanced around me at the faces. They were all of my friends who had signed up to be in reserves, which was part-time military. We all had our reasons; money, benefits, looking good on applications, or whatever. We wanted to serve from the comfort of our homeland, not fight dragons in downtown Toronto, the biggest city in Canada and seventh most populated in the continent.

I took out a picture I always kept in my pocket near my heart; a photo of my girlfriend. It was one of my favourite photos of her, because it captured her almost completely. She was standing on top of a crazy old Mayan ruin, overlooking an ancient plaza, the jungle, and a large river. She grinned at the camera, hands on her hips, smile lines crinkled around her blue eyes, blonde hair escaping from her bun pinned back with a hairpin made by locals. She looked incredibly happy and in awe of the place she was standing on. That had been taken about two years ago on her last March break trip of high school when she went to Belize with the school. I liked to carry the photo in my uniform, remember that she was waiting for me back home.

“Alright pansies, listen up!”

The sharp command from our sergeant had me scrambling to put the photo away as he stood up and handed out new pictures.

“Now I can’t say that I’ve ever fought dragons before, nor have I been taught the protocol, so I don’t really know what to do. But that’s fine because there is one thing I do know – it is our duty to keep this place safe. Toronto has yet to be fully evacuated and the beast is not contained. We still have no idea where the hell it came from or what the hell it is, but we gotta stop it.”

A photo came around to me and I looked at it, my heart plunging into my feet. The thing gripped the top of the CN Tower, green leathery wings spread wide, head open in a snarl, mouth full of jagged teeth. The thing looked huge, at least the size of a T-Rex. I passed the picture.

“Because we have no idea where this fucker is going to go, we’ve set up a perimeter along the Harbour Front, Bloor St, Bathurst, and Don Valley. We’ve got about fifty platoons stationed around to stop wherever this thing decides to go. We’ll be down on King, by the Princess of Wales Theatre. We’ll be there soon so start your praying, because we’ve got a one in fifty chance of being stuck with this beast.”

I looked over to my left and met eyes with one of my oldest friends, Donovan. He, another friend of ours, and myself all joined together. The other friend, Kaiah, was exceedingly lucky as her family had all gone to another city for a funeral. So, Donovan and I were about to face a dragon.

“What’re the odds it has a video-game weak spot?” Donovan asked quietly, “Like, a soft spot on its belly?”

I shrugged, “With your luck, no.”

“Don’t speak of my bad luck, because then we will have to face the damn thing.”

“Knock on wood I guess.”

“Everything near is us metal, so we’re all fucked then.”

We laughed quietly, the impending doom still very much a real threat. We talked for a little bit but soon fell silent and felt the seconds tick past. Far too soon, the sergeant stood up.

“File out in formation!”

We followed, hopping out of the truck and getting into two straight lines, facing east where the monster would be. To my left was the theatre, and I vaguely remembered going to see a play with Hazel. The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Nighttime, I think. Now, all the signs read Hamilton, which I knew Hazel had been dying to see. She said I would like it, but she felt bad because she had already promised Mackenzie she would take her because she was already a huge fan. I smiled, grateful for the memory.

However, I was violently ripped back to reality when I heard a screech. The videos didn’t capture it. Nothing could.

It was as if a T-Rex and a lion roared while someone scraped their nails against a chalkboard and it shook us to our core. I didn’t pray nor did I believe in a god, but I found myself asking that it wouldn’t be us, please let it not be us.

“And just what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

My back straightened automatically and I opened my mouth to make an explanation, but it wasn’t me the sergeant was talking to – two weird civilians had wandered into the area.

One of them was Hazel.

She wore a long white dress with bronze breastplates, shoulder pads, arm guards, and gladiator boots. Her dress was styled like an Ancient Greek chiton,  and the blonde hair piled up on her head sported a style from the same period. From her back sprouted a massive pair of dove wings, the feathers an opal-esque shade, shining dozens of colours, the edges of the wings covered in bronze. At her hip was a woven belt on which hung several drawstring pouches and a dagger.

The person beside her was dressed just as weirdly, but very differently. Their entire outfit was made of brown leather and bronze plates, and it kind of looked like a rogue from D&D. Like, 90% of the pants were extremely tall leather boots with straps and holsters for knives and other things. The top was a green tunic that went just above their elbows and brushed the top of the boots, under which seemed to be brown hide. They had a brown cloak on top with a hood, a green cloth pulled up over their nose, the same pine green as their eyes. They had a mask on their face seemed to be made of moss, covering the area around their eyes. Little flowers sprouted from it as well as small branches with blossoms out the top, making it look like they had antlers. From what little I could see of them, I could tell they had dark brown skin and a very thick afro. I had no clue whether it was a guy or a girl.

“We’re ordering you to evacuate the area,” Hazel said calmly, arms crossed and hip out to the side. That meant she didn’t want any fooling around.

“Except for you, there aren’t any civilians downtown.”

“As far as we’re concerned, you are civilians.”

“Hey, Crybaby, aren’t they militia?” The other asked.

Hazel looked at them and then at the platoon before turning back to her partner, “No, this is the reserve force, it’s part-time military. Civilians, technically.”

“Oh shit, right. Is that thing you were worried about…?”

“Yes.” Hazel spoke curtly and it seemed like she glanced at me, but it was so fast I couldn’t tell.

“We are official military,” the sergeant said angrily, “and you’re civilians! You need to leave immediately, or I will remove you by force, which I do not wish to do.”

“Just try it,” the partner scoffed, but Hazel shot them a look and they rolled their eyes, maintaining quiet.

“I apologize, but you are unfit to deal with this problem,” Hazel said cooly, “We are, however, very well-versed in dealing with wyverns.”

“And just what the fuck is a wyvern?” The sergeant spat.

“What you’re planning to fight,” the partner said, “and my pal here knows that it’s going to be coming this way, so you better get a fucking move on.”

“How in the hell do you know this?” The sergeant asked, seeming to be unsure.

“Classified.” They spoke in unison.

“So please just leave it to us and get your soldiers out of here,” Hazel said, seeming to be losing her patience.

“I can’t do that!” The sergeant was losing his too, “You’re just a couple of wackos who’ll get yourselves killed and land me in a world of trouble.”

“Quite the opposite, I assure you.” Hazel glared at the sergeant and her partner narrowed their eyes, which made him apprehensive.

“Who the fuck are these people?” Donovan asked beside me.

“You serious?” I said, turning to him, “That’s Hazel, I can’t tell who the other is though because of the mask.”

“What?” Donovan asked, looking at them, “How do you know it’s Hazel? She’s wearing a mask too. And what’s with the wings?”

I opened my mouth when another screech ripped through the air.

“You have three minutes before the wyvern gets here,” Hazel warned, danger in her tone, “So either you let us do our jobs or you die and make it a lot harder for us. But one thing is for sure, we will do what we need to do to take this thing down.”

The sergeant shifted, “Well just because you wear weird clothes and know what this is doesn’t mean that you can defeat it.”

“Look, man,” the partner spoke, “we can’t do anymore than is allowed for the situation so how about this – let me fight your best fighter. Whomever wins can kill the beast, old honour style.”

“That’s ridiculous,” the sergeant scoffed.

“Well, your attitude calls for it.”

“Appy,” Hazel warned, “be careful.”

“But you’ll ref, right?” The partner asked, “Fae rules and all?”

Hazel sighed, “Yes, I’ll ref.”

“Great. So good sir, get your best fighter.”

The sergeant scowled but turned to us, “Jackson! Front and centre!”

We all watched as Tyler Jackson, a big muscular prick of a guy, stepped forward with a grin. He was proud and self-centred, and by far the best fighter we had. He had yet to be beaten in hand-to-hand, even from the sergeant. The small person didn’t stand a chance.

“What’re the rules?” Tyler asked, “And do I get a prize?”

“If you lose, you live. If you win, you die with honour. Pick a blade.” The small person didn’t seem to give a shit that Tyler was twice their size.

Tyler grinned and pulled a knife from his pocket. He was deadly with it, and everyone had at least one scar from it.

“Let no blood be spilled,” Hazel said as she and the sergeant stepped back to give the pair space, “Appy, I’m serious.”

“You’re no fun,” the partner complained.

“Where’s your blade?” Tyler teased.

The partner, evidently called Appy for some reason, reached for a bronze armband on their upper arm and pulled it off, glowing as it extended into a massive broadsword. Appy grinned like a maniac and Tyler looked scared shitless.

“Appy,” Hazel warned.

Appy sighed and the sword shrank down to a dagger, “Just wanted to scare the guy,” they complained.

“Make it quick, let no blood be spilled, and may the winner have the honour of defeating the Wyvern. It hath been spoken, thus let it be.” Hazel raised her arms as she spoke, saying it like a chant. A heavy weight settled in, as if the words themselves really carried a spell.

As soon as Hazel finished speaking, Appy lunged for Tyler, but he saw it and dodged. Yet Appy was too fast. They caught him by the middle and flipped him over, causing the blade to fly from his hand. He made an oof as he hit the ground, the wind knocked from him. Appy sat on his chest and pinned his arms with one hand, the other holding a knife to his throat.

“One...two...three. And that’s match. We shall fight the wyvern,” Hazel announced, glancing at the street beyond them, “and just in time. You need to take your soldiers and leave, get as far away from here as possible. But if you see the wyvern, freeze – they like a moving target.”

“What the hell is that?” The sergeant barked, “There had to be some trick!”

“No, trick, I assure you,” Appy said as they got off of Tyler, turning their back to him, “I just guess that military training doesn’t match up to a Knight’s.”

Tyler was enraged, and it was obvious. He had never lost a fight, especially not to someone so weird and small. He snatched his blade from the ground and thrust up on his knees, aiming for Appy’s side.

Appy sidestepped easily and sliced their blade across Tyler’s arm, causing him to cry out in pain and drop his blade.

“That’s one angry dude,” Appy said as they slid their dagger, now an armband, back into place.

“I said no bloodshed,” Hazel huffed as she knelt down next to Tyler and pulled out a roll of gauze.

“The fight was over!” Appy argued, “Besides, he was wanting to give me a scar, everyone in this damn platoon has one from him. Thought I would return the favour.”

“God, you’re like a dumbass Batman villain,” Hazel complained to Tyler as she bandaged his wound, “With less honour than the Joker, you piece of shit.”

“How did you know I was thinking that?” Tyler asked, scared, “You psychic?”

“Term is telepathic,” Hazel said matter-of-factly, “I’m psychic, Appy’s an empath. Now that that’s cleared up, leave.”

The sergeant bristled at the last word as he had watched everything unfold.

“Just because you won one fight-”

“I’m sorry,” Appy snarled, suddenly rounding on the sergeant, pulling their blade out and holding it dangerously close to his face, “Do you not understand basic combat rules, let alone fae? I won, so you leave. You can’t break a deal, or the fae will fuck you up, if I don’t get to you first. Feel fear.”

At this, the sergeant scrambled back, visibly shaken and sweating.

“Appy!” Hazel scolded harshly, “Fear won’t help this, only make him worse. Besides, it’s too late now.”

“Too late?” Someone asked.

“Yeah,” Appy said coolly, “blame these two assholes.” Their head jutted towards the sergeant and Tyler, “If they had only let us do their jobs then y’all’ight’ve lived.”

“No one is going to die,” Hazel assured, taking the sergeant by the arm and picking Tyler up, leading them to where the rest of us were standing. She pushed Tyler off on someone and sharply told the sergeant; “Stay behind this line.” Then she produced a piece of blue chalk from her belt and drew a curved line in front of all of us, chanting quitely all the time. Once she finished, she bent down and kissed it, making the line glow a faint blue. A shimmering wall formed in front of us, Hazel standing on the other side. Then she turned to us, “Don’t move, don’t make a noise, only breathe if you need to. Disobeying any of these will get you and everyone else killed.”

“Crybaby, E.T.A.?” Appy called, a longsword suddenly in their hand as a shriek cut through the air.

“Five. Four. Three. Two. One.”

As soon as Hazel finished saying ‘one’, she pulled something from her pocket, watched by the wyvern as it rounded the corner.

“Oh, we are so fucked.”